


Hair

by Tassillow



Series: Recovery and Careers [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bisexual Pansy Parkinson, Black Hermione Granger, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Character Study, Dyslexia, Dyslexic Parvati Patil, F/F, F/M, Growing Up, Hairdresser Parvati Patil, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, JKR IS WRONG - TRANS RIGHTS, Lesbian Character of Color, Lesbian Padma Patil, Minor Characters Turned Major Characters, One Shot, POV Parvati Patil, Pre-Hogwarts to Post-Hogwarts, Swearing, careers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:15:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23767540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tassillow/pseuds/Tassillow
Summary: A character study of Parvati Patil, the fastest sorted Gryffindor in her year. Her relationships with her family were tough, especially with the sister she was always compared to. She grew up through a war, and lost friends, but survived and found a new place for herself. Despite her troubles, she ended up where she was supposed to be all along.
Relationships: Padma Patil/Pansy Parkinson, Parvati Patil/Dean Thomas
Series: Recovery and Careers [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1712194
Kudos: 7





	Hair

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so this has been sitting essentially completed on my computer for around a year now, I didn't post because it isn't 'perfect'. But I really love this story and I love these characters so I wanted to put it out there, even if I'm still not 100% how good it is. This was kind of an odd one for me to write, Parvati is so different from me and I have the absolute worst anxiety around people touching my hair. I'm making a series because I already have another similar one-shot essentially complete, as well as a few ideas, following the recovery of characters post-war and the careers they ended up in. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Warnings: Homophobia from a parent, Description of the canonical death of a minor (but major in this story) character, Swearing

-  
8 Years Old  
-

The gentle singing voice drifting through the house did little for Parvati’s bad mood. Stupid Padma, she thought as she stomped around her room. Parvati had spent the last week in a horrible mood, not that her family had noticed. They were all too overjoyed at their other daughter who was special and smart and oh-so-much-better-than-Parvati.

Ok maybe they hadn’t said that but Parvati just knew they had thought it.

Parvati’s bad mood was caused by one thing only, she thought as she flounced past her door hoping someone would notice, and that one thing was Padma. One week ago the final nail in the coffin of their relationship had swooped down over the breakfast table with a letter.

‘Dear Miss Padma Patil, We are delighted to inform you that you are the winner of our under 10s writing competition!’ Padma had read in delight. She had squealed and jumped up and down, their mother had cried. Their father even gave Padma a rare smile and a chocolate biscuit for breakfast. Parvati had just sat there eating her food in silence, unnoticed by everyone else.

Normally when faced with a difficult situation like this Parvati would move on. She would smile and be the good daughter her parents wanted her to be. But this was one time too many. The Daily Prophet had announced the competition two months ago at the beginning of summer. It was to be the first one and children across the country were apparently eagerly writing in their short stories. The winner would have theirs printed in the newspaper for the whole country to see and get to meet the Minister for Magic.

Parvati had eagerly sat down to write at the kitchen table in her neatest handwriting. Padma wouldn’t have even entered the stupid competition if she hadn’t walked by and asked what Parvati was writing. Both girls had been ecstatic with their stories. They rushed off to their parents so they could fill out a permission slip and let their screech owl carry it away.

If only Parvati hadn’t let them read it. She slumped against the wall and rested her head on her knees. They had read Padma’s first and were full of compliments and charm. When it came to Parvati’s turn however they had taken one look and sighed.

‘What is this Parvati?’ Her father had said abruptly, his eyes boring into her.

‘My story Vaḍīla, what do you mean?’ She had nervously responded, instinctively lowering her eyes away from him.

‘What did you write this with?’ He further demanded. Parvati muttered to the ground hoping they wouldn’t hear. Her father brandished the parchment in front of her and Parvati could see her own messy script in her very favourite pink gel pen she had been given by her aunt, a squib. ‘What will people think, girl, you writing in this ghastly colour. Using a muggle device at that! How will people respect us then, knowing we can’t discipline our children.’

‘No one will see it Vaḍīla!’ She shouted as tears sprung to her eyes, ‘Just some random judge it doesn’t matter!’

‘Parvati,’ Her mother interrupted, keen to prevent conflict as always, ‘Just go rewrite it using a quill and ink.’

‘What’s the point! You haven’t even read it!’ she knew her voice was getting shrill. She glanced over at her sister whilst shouting and was met with detached uncaring eyes

‘You are too stubborn for your own good child, go now or we won’t send it at all!’ her father bellowed back.

‘No you may as well rip it up I don’t care!’ She had screamed and stormed away. And that was that. After Padma’s story had been sent away Parvati had slowly forgotten about it, her parents had treated her coldly for a few days and she never found out what happened to her story. She had been content with that, until the owl and stupid Padma’s victory.

Today was the day of the ceremony and the visit with the minister of magic. Her grandparents had arrived yesterday. They had cancelled their plans just so they could visit a week earlier, just to see Padma. The whole family was going, except Parvati of course. She was to be left at home so she wouldn’t be ‘disruptive’ and ‘ruin such a special day with your jealousy’. Well, Parvati was jealous and who could blame her. She was sure she would have won the stupid thing had she been allowed to enter.

She gently opened the door and walked towards her parent’s room, inside her mother was plaiting Padma’s hair while they wore the most beautiful, and expensive, sarees they owned. They had their backs to her but Parvati could see the complicated wand movement her mother performed. Her sister’s long black hair gently twisted into intricate braids. The wandwork wasn’t really a spell, more a feeling of intent; her mother told her it felt like playing music which was why she sang while doing it. Her mother had a beautiful voice, light and lilting and instinctive. Parvati hadn’t inherited any musical talent, as she was told by her very expensive music tutor.

Padma’s hair did look wonderful though, the patterns mirrored those on her sky blue sari, and when she turned it looked as though she had even been allowed to wear a touch of eyeshadow to match. She looked pretty, Parvati had to admit. She was like a princess doll, the perfect daughter.

Just then there was a woosh of the floo and Parvati quickly backed down the hall out of sight before she was spotted.

“It's the babysitter!” Her Grandmother called to the rest of the house. All the excited members of the house began filing towards the kitchen fireplace. Parvati hated that she had a babysitter, she barely needed anyone to look after her at all. She had argued with her parent’s about it many times, she was sure their house-elf would be enough to care for her. No one else seemed to agree.

Parvati tried to stay hidden in the corridor to her room, her father managed to spot her and forcefully whispered “Behave.” before he left. No one else said a word to her. After she heard the floo activate five more times she finally snuck down to the kitchen. An old woman was waiting there for her, she was called Mrs Kumar and had been caring for the Patil girls since they were babies.

“Hello Parvati,” she croaked out, “Do you have any work or jobs to be doing?”

“A page of basic arithmancy from my tutor,” Parvati admitted.

“Go get it then, you can work here. It won’t be long now until you get your Hogwarts letter, you have to keep up with your studies.” Parvati didn’t get much of a thrill from preparing for Hogwarts, she didn’t like working very much. In fact, the only reason she did go and get her work was for the rather abstract concept of not living with her parents anymore. Once she was set up at the kitchen table with her goose feather quill, Mrs Kumar put the wireless on and settled in the chair by the fire.

Parvati liked that about Mrs Kumar, she was very strict but at least she let them play music while they worked. Her parents would never allow that. Both of them were very strict about working, her mother had gone to Hogwarts and been a Ravenclaw where she excelled in studying. Her father had had a more traditional education back in India. When they married they both agreed on a strict parenting style and had not changed.

The arithmancy work was slow and hard; it took over an hour for Parvati to work her way down the parchment. The work wasn’t helped by the stupidly difficult quill and the bitter feeling as she imagined all the interesting people Padma was meeting. When she finally finished she turned to Mrs Kumar proudly and found her deeply asleep in her chair, wand held loosely in her hand.

Her parents had strict rules that the twins weren't allowed to even touch their parent’s wands, even if it was just to pass it to one of them. And so when Parvati noticed the pale wand, so easily within her reach, it made her stomach jump with excitement. Here was something she could do before Padma, something she could be better at. Before she knew what she was doing the wand was held tightly in her hand as she tried not to breathe too loudly. If her parents found out they would tell her she was impulsive and reckless, her father would shout and scream until his voice got hoarse. But no one was here to shout, so instead, she crept from the room in her padded purple slippers. She practically ran to her bedroom, using all her willpower not to slam the door, while clutching the precious prize to her chest.

What should she do? She knew the incantations for some basic spells, her parents made them stand and drill techniques while holding practice wands. The wooden toys would never give a spark but, she could admit, they did help her learn. The wand she held now was paler and surprisingly short for a full-grown woman.

Wingardium leviosa? Lumos? Those weren’t right, she had to be able to prove to Padma she had done it but also not get caught. It was a fine balance. She was lightly humming a nervous song under her breath when it came to her.

Her hair.

Padma had looked so proud earlier, as she’d left with her hair pristine and perfect. Wouldn’t it wipe the smug look off of her face if she came home to Parvati looking just as pretty- no prettier. It was perfect.

She eased her door open and snuck into the bathroom. Balancing herself on the rim of the bath she was able to see all of her waist-length hair in the mirror. She spun around once, careful to not slip and fall to the ground, and then she was ready.

She gripped the wand tightly in her hand, the way she had perfected years ago. Raising it she pointed it awkwardly back on herself with the tip touching a strand of her hair. She breathed, trying to remember everything she knew about magic, and then screwed her eyes shut. She began to sing, stuttering quietly in Marathi, and focussed all her imagination on her hair.

The flash of light the wand must have produced was bright, she could see it through her eyelids. When she opened her eyes it took her a second to see her face in the mirror again.

It was hideous.

Parvati stepped back and sunk into the empty bath desperately feeling her head. Her hands only confirmed what she had seen. Her hair lay in ruins with large clumps missing. Even the longer strands barely brushed at her shoulders. Tears sprang to her eyes as she watched the discarded wand roll away from her.

She wasn’t sure how long she sat there before Mrs Kumar found her. Looking back, she would regret not trying to fix her hair with the wand before she was discovered. The shouting she experienced only made her cry worse. When her parents came home and received a full report on her bad behaviour, she had shed so many tears she couldn’t cry anymore. They yelled and screamed and Padma slunk away with her perfect hair without saying a word.

Each morning she would pray to anyone listening that it had grown back overnight, but it never did. She would beg her mother to fix it, to no success. The other children they saw would laugh and point, Pansy asked her if she had been to a muggle hairdresser. It took months of ridicule before it began to look ok again. Parvati made a silent promise that she would never let herself experience that again.

-  
11 Years Old  
-

A pair of matching owls delivered matching letters to the two not very matching girls over breakfast on the 24th of June. The letters had been expected for days, and neither girl was surprised to receive it. Parvati’s heart still jumped, however, as she finally read her name in the emerald green ink.

“Oh good, we can go shopping this weekend,” Their mother said, only glancing at the letters for a second.

“Make a list of what you actually need, girls. No point buying your whole equipment list if we already have it.” Their father grumbled.

This led to Parvati clutching her double-sided piece of parchment to her chest, as the night bus swerved and stuttered its way towards Diagon Alley. It was written, as always, with gel pens. She had owned the pens for so many years now few were still working, but the lime green she used today still sparkled and warmed her heart.

The list was well worn, it had passed through Parvati's hands so many times the past week. She had read it over and over and was still doing so now to make sure all was correct. Padma’s list also rested on her lap in neat black ink, although she wasn’t reading it and looked rather green. All of her family got sick on the bus, and in the Gringotts carts, except Parvati. Just another way she didn’t fit in. They were taking the bus today as it was easier for transporting shopping than the floo, Parvati vowed to enjoy every second.

She also tried to enjoy the brief journey through the leaky cauldron, although her parents rushed them through immediately. They didn’t think it was appropriate for children to spend time in a pub.

Diagon Alley, however, felt more vibrant today, louder and brighter and cheerier. Probably due to the incredibly high number of students and tourists at this time of year. The queue outside Flourish and Blotts alone was probably the most people Parvati had ever seen in one place in her life. She could count the number of times she’d been here, her parents preferred small villages for trips and Ogie the house-elf normally ran all their errands.

“Wow Ā'ī it’s so busy, how will we ever get in?” Padma tugged on their mother’s hand as she spoke, clearly nervous.

“Like this!” Parvati said, suddenly determined she directed a sly smile towards her sister. With that, she straightened her back and walked forward towards the crowd with her head held high. Smaller than the average patron, she managed to slip through the throng to the doors, quickly leaving the cool breeze of the street and her parent’s watchful eyes behind. She considered turning back and finding them but quickly bolstered herself; They’ll find me, it’s not like they’re going to leave me here, and wouldn’t it be better if they found me with a full shopping basket.

And so she set off. Carrying the heavy metal basket in her hands, ducking under those adults levitated for their children. She scanned her list for the section titled ‘Books’ which she had drawn a bubble around and doodled a tiny book next to.

Twenty minutes later with all her textbooks collected, along with a couple of recommendations from her tutor, no one had come looking for her. She was beginning to feel jittery, although she was trying to distract herself. She had no money to pay for the books herself and so was pacing the fiction section. If she were Padma this would be a very good distraction, but she was Parvati and Parvati hated reading. It took her so long and she had to concentrate so hard it never seemed worth it. She was just thinking maybe it was time to put the books back and leave when a voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Hi!” She jumped slightly before turning and seeing a pale girl with long mousy brown hair. “I’m Lavender! Are you starting at Hogwarts too? Sorry, it’s just I can see your textbooks.” The girl, Lavender, said in one large rush while gesturing far too much with her hands.

“Yes,” Parvati replied trying to seem brave, “Both me and my sister are starting.” There was an awkward pause as she finished speaking where neither girl knew what to say, Parvati didn’t cope very well with silence. “You have lovely hair!” She forced out with a nervous giggle.

“Thank you!” Lavender, with the pretty hair, said with a blush on her face. After that, they were off. In the short time they were together they spoke about books and houses and their families and couldn’t stop. Lavender pointed out her favourite book series, about a young metamorphmagus girl who became a spy, Parvati added it to her basket even though she didn’t think she would enjoy reading it. They were just about to decamp to the small magazine area of the store when Parvati’s family finally found her.

“Parvati!” Padma’s voice screamed across the store, she sounded worried which made Parvati roll her eyes. Turning to see her parents quickly put a stop to her happy mood.

“You cannot run off like that, we may never have seen you again, it isn’t safe!” Her mother said sternly while her father silently fumed behind her.

“I didn’t run off!” Parvati defended, “You knew where I was and you could have found me a lot quicker if you cared that much!”

“Um, Parvati? I’ll see you on the train, my parents are over there,” Lavender muttered quickly before trotting off.

“Who was that?” Her father demanded, momentarily distracted from his anger.

“Lavender Brown,” Parvati said smugly. “She’s going to Hogwarts too.”

“Brown? Is that a muggle name?”

“No, her parents are magic!”

“Oh dear,” Her mother said suddenly, “They might be those Browns. Artists. They dabble in muggle art as well.” The disapproval in her mother's voice was clear, the ensuing speech about networking and the right sort of friends hammered it in. The way she said artists implied more than Parvati was able to understand; as if her mother was telling her father about some other dirty thing but wouldn’t say the word. Positively, this distracted her family from her disappearing act. They didn’t notice the extra few books she had snuck into her basket and paid without complaint. Parvati would be sad, but seeing her new friend wave from across the street made her heart soar no matter what anyone said to her.

Her parents stuck close to her side the entire rest of the day so she couldn’t wander off. She still thought it was a good trip, she managed to tick everything off her list except a familiar. Her parents believed familiars were to be earned, found and tamed in the wild or raised from young. Apparently, surviving till your eleventh birthday and then getting your parents to buy you one does not count.

She also finally had a wand of her own. She kept it in a little suede pouch inside her robes and begged for a wand care kit too. Her parents told her she wasn’t to use it without an adult present, Parvati knew she would be using it the second she got back and closed her door. As soon as she had touched the dragon heartstring wand her world had felt complete, it was nothing like the one she had stolen years ago. It felt like an extension of her, like a limb she had only just discovered.

She wondered if that's how other people felt, maybe that was why her parents believed in the taboo of never touching another's wand. She almost couldn’t blame them.

-

On the morning of September the first, Parvati woke up at 5am after a restless night. If she was a different child she might have burst into her parents' room and demanded everyone get up. That was, in fact, what a hundred other eleven-year-olds around the country were doing this morning. Parvati, however, was content to focus her nervous energy on her trunk.

She unpacked all her books and repacked them in a slightly different order. She switched the set of robes she had laid out for herself last night with a different, identical, pair. She opened her special potions box and poked a few loose ingredients back into their compartments. Once she had done all this she glanced at the clock on her wall and saw only fifteen minutes had passed.

It was a long morning. When she finally heard movement from Ogie in the kitchen she practically ran out of her room.

“Little Miss Parvati!” The elf whispered shrilly. “It is being early miss, you should not be awake Ogie thinks.”

“Oh Ogie, I can’t sleep,” She sighed dramatically while throwing herself into a chair. “I’m just so excited, this is the first day of my life really! Can you imagine that after today this won’t be my home anymore and these won’t be the only people I see? I get to wear proper robes, and cast spells, and do whatever I want!”

“Ogie is happy for Miss Parvati.”

“I’ll miss you Ogie! But I won’t be coming back here much anymore, I think I’ll stay there over the holidays when I can.”

“Miss, Ogie is not sure the Master and Mistress will be liking that. They likes to see their girls is alive and well.”

“See if they can stop me!” Parvati didn’t think her family would complain, they always seemed to be in better moods when she wasn’t here anyway. Ogie sighed but continued dutifully making breakfast. “Can you do my hair Ogie? I want it to look nice for the day.”

“After Ogie has finished cutting the fruit, Miss!”

The tiny nimble hands of a house-elf made them perfect for delicate tasks such as sewing and braiding hair. Her mother didn’t like the house-elf doing it, she thought it was lazy of Parvati to not do it herself every day. She believed they were old enough now to do most of their own chores, and Parvati agreed. But something was comforting about feeling her hair be styled behind her, she couldn’t quite put it into words.

Ogie made quick work of her hair twirling it into a long five-part plait down her back. Her hair was still shorter than Padma’s after the incident a few years ago. Most people wouldn’t notice as it was still very long, reaching midway down her back. Once her hair was proclaimed complete she checked it in the mirror and smiled to herself. “It's simple and elegant Ogie! Perfect!”

The little elf hummed and returned to cooking. And with that, her distraction was gone, and she was left pacing the house once again.

Time passed slowly but eventually, the rest of her family emerged from their rooms. They ate breakfast in relative silence, no one asked Parvati how long she had been awake. The twins were asked to check to make sure they had everything, which felt like Parvati’s twentieth check, then their trunks were levitated down the stairs.

They would be travelling by side-along apparition, with each of their parents, so it would take little time to arrive in London. Finally, at ten-thirty, their father announced it was time to leave.

-

“Parvati, come back!” Padma shouted from behind her.

“What?” Parvati replied, turning round with a sigh.

“I can’t keep up, I think my trunk must be heavier than yours,” Padma did look to be struggling with the trunk, dragging it down the aisle of the train carriage.

“Or maybe I'm just stronger than you,” If her parents were here they would tell her to stop being rude, but they were back on the train platform slowly fading out of her existence. She could be as rude as she wanted. “Why are you following me anyway, I said I would meet Lavender on the train.”

“I thought we would sit together?” Padma sounded confused.

“Well you thought wrong.” with that, Parvati turned around and left her sister. The only trouble was her sister wouldn’t leave her.

“Wait! I don’t know anyone else!”

“Yes you do, go sit with Pansy or Daphne or Lisa or something,” Parvati was beginning to get very annoyed.

“Yes but I don’t know them like you, Parvati. Why can’t we all just sit together? You can invite Lavender along.”

If Parvati had relented here something very different might have happened. She would have sat in a carriage full of Slytherin girls, spouting their parents darker ideologies. Lavender - the blood traitor - would have been insulted and would leave the carriage, rightfully annoyed. Padma would have pretended to laugh and Parvati would have sat in awkward silence, the girls would have made their parents proud but grown up on the wrong side of a war. Instead, showing her unbeatable Gryffindor spirit, Parvati said: “No, I don’t want to be friends with them anymore. You do what you want, sit with them or not, but I am going to find Lavender.”

“Well, then I’m coming with you,” Padma said huffily.

“Fine.”

They found Lavender in a carriage with two other girls, Introduced as Hermione and Mandy, and thus their destiny was set. Parvati ignored Padma as best she could the rest of the ride, mostly letting her talk to Mandy and Hermione. Lavender complimented her hair and they spent the rest of the time talking about school and lives and the world. Parvati and Lavender had that sort of instant connection everyone longs for but unfortunately very few get. Padma didn't have that connection with Mandy, although they got on well enough, and spent a lot of the trip shooting unseen jealous looks at her sister.

When the train finally arrived, and the school year began, the girls tried their best to hide their nerves from each other. Lavender and Mandy, with surnames early in the alphabet, were sorted first. If the twins’ fates weren’t already sealed this clinched it and so Padma went to Ravenclaw with little fuss and Parvati joined the lions, the fastest sorted Gryffindor in their year.

A feast’s length later, Parvati lay in her new four-poster bed, a castle away from her twin and what felt like a world away from her parents. She smiled and thought to herself; If today is the start of the rest of my life, and the new me, it’s going very well so far.

-  
12 Years Old  
-

It was towards the end of her second year when Parvati was diagnosed with dyslexia. She had always struggled with reading, no matter how hard she tried, but it wasn’t until then she knew why.

It was actually Lockhart who first picked it up. He was keen on setting different students long chapters to read out loud from his books, wasting most of the class time. He always expected uproarious laughter and applause at the appropriate moments, and if that didn't happen would spend at least a few minutes trying to explain to them why it was funny. Parvati quickly got banned from reading when she ‘couldn’t capture the gravitas required to allow everyone to understand the nuances of the scene’. These lessons quickly became shameful for Parvati as everyone else got their turns while she was skipped over. Lavender always told her she was lucky, as the whole thing was awful anyway, but it didn’t help much. She spent much of Lockhart's classes staring at him with anger, this rather quickly made her forget her budding crush on him.

Nevertheless, it must have sparked a conversation in the teachers’ lounge one day. Parvati was called to Professor McGonagall’s office for some tests. It appeared her bad spelling and awful handwriting had been put together and now there must be something wrong with her.

The test was all very official. They were conducted by some ministry education officer who could scarcely remember her name, despite her being the only one in the room. She had to write letters with a quill over and over and read out sentences from books at random. All of their conversations were recorded with a self-writing quill, making Parvati’s shame feel all the greater. By the end, her hand hurt but her brain hurt even more. The examiner whisked off and Parvati’s brain was soon taken over by other things. Hermione was relocated to the hospital wing leaving Lavender and Parvati's dorm all the more lonely than before.

It wasn’t until after the drama, with Harry and the Basilisk, that the teachers appeared to remember about it. McGonagall had apparently had the results for a month, but it had been buried under a mountain of more important things. She was given some pamphlets and told the school would support her, but it didn’t really matter. All that mattered was that she had this stupid fault while perfect, precious, Padma did not. Something her parents readily informed them of when they got home for summer.

The only good thing that came out of it was that she was now allowed to write with whatever she wanted, in any colour of the rainbow, and the teachers didn’t query it. Snape may have failed her, for the first essay she handed in that was written in a purple muggle biro, but it gave her a certain joy she couldn’t hold back.

-  
14 Years Old  
-

Years later, she would still feel very responsible for what she did to her sister on the night of the Yule ball. Padma would wave it off and say they had both been young and immature, deep down Parvati would always know it was her fault.

She had thought to set up Padma and Ron based on a passing conversation she had shared with her twin. Despite what others thought, she didn't do it to help Padma out. She didn't even do it because she felt sorry for Ron. She did it to hurt her sister. Despite going through a war, and fighting on the front line, she would count this stupid, childish trick as the worst thing she had ever done until she died.

The twins had not been on completely friendly terms with each other since they were about three; when Padma cried that Parvati had hit her to their mother. Parvati, who had done no such thing, then hit her sister as revenge. But despite putting very little effort into their relationship, they never seemed able to escape each other. Teachers, who pitied them for being separated, would pair them together in class. Their friends would greet the other twin every time they passed and drag them into a conversation. The occasional letter from home was addressed to the two of them, requiring a perfunctory meeting to hand it over. And thus, tense but casual conversations between the two were relatively common. It was on one of these fraught occasions, as Parvati watched Padma divvy up a box of halwa sent to them by their grandmother, that Parvati asked if Padma had a date yet.

“Um… n- no, why? Do you?” Padma had answered, behaving unusually flustered even for her, stuttering and carefully making sure not to look up.

“No, a couple of boys asked me but they’re all lame. I’m going to hold out for someone good or go alone.” Parvati said irritably, tapping her foot hoping it would hurry Padma’s trembling fingers up. “Lavender asked Seamus almost immediately, he’s the only boy in our year who’s the right height for her in her heels”

“Oh,” Padma muttered, “They’ll make a good match.” She said diplomatically.

“No, they won’t.” Parvati snapped back. Although she tended to make it a point to disagree with anything her sister said, this time she had the added benefit of believing it was true. Lavender was far too good for Seamus.

“If you say so,” Padma replied, “Besides shouldn’t she have gone with Weasley if she needed someone tall?”

“Probably, but his hair would have clashed awfully with her robes. Besides I don’t see those two ever being an item, he’s far too hung up on other girls.”

“Oh is he? Who?” Padma asked as she carefully wrapped up the sweets into two neat bags. Her face was still flushed from earlier.

“That Veela girl for a start,” Parvati scoffed, snatching her bag as soon as it was tied shut. “Why are you so interested anyway? Do  
want to be his date?”

“No, no not at all!” Padma replied with a completely shocked expression on her face. “I don’t want to go with any boy, I don’t want to go at all! The whole thing sounds rubbish to me. I mean, dancing to the cheesy music that the teachers like while having to pair up just to be socially acceptable. The whole thing sounds awful, I can’t imagine anything more awful than going to the ball with Ron Weasley.” Padma had said, sounding remarkably brave. Parvati had rolled her eyes, called her ‘antisocial’ and a ‘square’ before departing back to Gryffindor.

A few days later, Parvati recalled this conversation when Harry hurriedly asked her: “Parvati? Will you go to the ball with me?”. Parvati hadn’t been expecting it but felt her heart soar at the prospect. This wasn’t because she particularly liked Harry, as Lavender would tease her later, but rather at the social standing she would gain from it. She felt rather glad for taking the gamble and rejecting the earlier offers.

Parvati stopped in her path back to the dorms and made sure to wait for the perfect amount of time so as not to look eager before she answered. "Yes, all right then". It was a short statement, not particularly romantic and far more business-like than she would recount it later, but she knew it would secure her the best seat in the whole hall for the night.

"Lavender — will you go with Ron?" Harry continued with just a subtle smile of relief to Parvati.

"She's going with Seamus," Parvati responded, keenly seeing another opening. Lavender giggled beside her, rather too proud of her date in Parvati's opinion.

“Can't you think of anyone who'd go with Ron?” Harry asked.

“I suppose my sister might... Padma, you know... in Ravenclaw. I'll ask her if you like.” Parvati responded. Harry gave her a relieved grin as if she was doing him an enormous favour. She supposed she was, even if it wasn’t her main goal. Killing two birds with one stone she shrugged internally, furthering her burgeoning alliance with Harry while also pissing off Padma.

As Harry left, Lavender tittered about how it had been the stuff of romance novels. Parvati let herself get swept up in her friend’s excitement, joking back about Lavender’s elegant proposal to Seamus. when she lay in bed that night she wasn't thinking about Harry. She was writing herself a, rather vindictive, script of just what she was going to tell Padma in the morning.

The next day, she hunted her sister down to the library. Padma was sitting with a group of other studious Ravenclaws. When one slid from the seat opposite her to disappear into the stacks, Parvati took her opening and flounced dramatically into the seat.

“Oh Padma, I have the most wonderful news,” She proclaimed earning looks from the rest of the table, half despairing and half curious.

“What is it Parvati? I hope it's quick, I want to get this essay done today.” Padma replied, her voice significantly quieter than her sister.

“Well, I finally found a good enough date for the ball. I wanted to get your approval.” She said this in the most innocent tone she could muster. Deep down, she hoped that each word would grate her sister’s core.

“Why would you need that?” Padma looked up at her confused, Parvati tried not to let her good mood be soured by the truly innocent look on Padma’s face.

“Because, as my twin, what I do will affect you too. I want to make sure you don’t think I’m going to outshine you on the night.” Parvati grinned. Hopefully, that came across as caring rather than boastful.

“I told you, I don’t think I’m going to go,” Padma muttered, looking down again, “So don’t worry about what I think.”

“Oh but you have to come, It’s going to be so much fun!” She said with pleading eyes. “I even have the perfect boy for you to go with.”

“What, who?” Padma looked up shocked. A drip of black ink dropped from the nib of her quill, obscuring a few of the words in her essay.

“Oh, He’s a good friend of my date. So we can go together, don’t worry.”

“Who Parvati?” Padma’s voice insisted.

“Ok fine I’ll tell you,” She glanced around furtively before starting again, using a low voice that would carry across the whole library, “Harry Potter.”

“You’ve set me up with Harry Potter?” Padma squeaked, dropping her quill to the table. The surrounding Ravenclaws were now watching them. Their faces looked curious, it was the expression they normally reserved for an interesting charms display. Madam Pince was hovering a few meters away, ready to intercede if they got rowdier.

“No silly!” Parvati giggled, “I’m going with Harry.”

“Wait then who-”

“You’re going with Ron Weasley of course!” She let this settle just long enough for her sister to take in, but not long enough for her to start complaining. “Look I know you said the other day you didn’t want to go with him, but I could tell you were lying. You were blushing and stuttering, it's so obvious you have a crush. So when Harry mentioned Ron still needed a date, I just couldn’t resist. You two will look so sweet together, and I knew you wouldn’t be able to ask him yourself.”

“But, Parvati, I-” Padma started.

“You should have seen how excited he was, Pads. He was all flustered, he clearly likes you too. And now you can come to the ball without any worries, yes? I'll be there keeping an eye on you the entire time anyway, so you don't have to be nervous,” Parvati should have probably stopped earlier, she could see how embarrassed she was making her sister. But, she needed to be sure that Padma had no way out of it. Making her too flustered to refuse was the only way to do it.

“I guess.” Padma eventually sighed, she was obviously deflated. The Ravenclaw friends one-by-one started to whisper.

“Perfect! We’ll meet you in the entrance hall then? Make sure to be ready on time!” Parvati said before skipping out of the seat and away, pretending to be cheerfully oblivious of the murmurs going on behind her. Lavender told her later, in the darkness of their dorm, that she didn't think Parvati was being very nice. She thought it seemed too underhanded and ‘Slytherin-y’. They bickered about it until they fell asleep. They mutually decided to pretend it hadn't happened the next morning, they didn't like arguing.

-

By the day of the Yule Ball, the excitement of tricking her sister had worn off. It had been replaced by the general excitement teenagers get for dances and dates. Parvati spent the time planning her outfit, choosing shades of iridescent nail varnish with Lavender to paint each other’s toes.

On Christmas eve, Hermione, looking rather more frazzled than normal, broke down about her hair. She had spent days in the bathroom trying to pin it back out of her face, with no idea what she was doing. Parvati had never seen Hermione like this about the way she looked before. When they gently asked her why she was so worried she cried "He's not going to like me!" shocking Parvati.

"Who?" She asked.

"Viktor Krum! I don't know why I said yes when he asked me. Everyone is going to be staring, it's going to be awful. If I could just work out this one stupid thing, maybe I'd feel ok."

Parvati and Lavender let her cry for a bit, cooing over the Krum revelation and complimenting the beautiful tight ringlets her hair made. Lavender was much better at making people feel better, but Parvati made sure to chime in when she could. Eventually, they agreed to help Hermione do her hair for the ball. And thus, a slightly less tearful Hermione drew up a colour coded schedule for the next day. Parvati pretended she would stick to it.

Parvati didn’t know much about how to style afro hair, her own hair was very straight and Lavender’s was only slightly wavy. Lavender knew more, One of her mums had quite similar hair. She didn’t have either the tools or time to work out how to style it. In the end, Hermione agreed to the rather tedious process of a Sleakeazy’s soak that Lavender had once been privy to. They would have to combine both their open bottles to get enough but were excited about the concept.

Hermione seemed to be excited too, she told Parvati how her mother normally did her hair and she hadn’t been able to do anything with it since moving away from home. Parvati told her how her own mother thought she was too old to have her hair done but had never told her how to do it herself. Hermione’s hair would take her a lot less time after that, and Parvati would learn some lessons for life.

Lavender, who overheard, gasped and demanded they both visited her over the summer holidays and got taught the proper magic ways of doing these things. Parvati had mostly taught herself by this point, but could hardly resist a whole day of styling.

By the time they had gone through the final preparations, sending a beautifully glossy Hermione on her way, Parvati and Lavender had gone down to the common room forgetting this wasn’t supposed to be the most important part of the night. Harry had, fortunately, shaped up well. His outfit looked nice with her bright pink robes. Seamus had shaped up ok, Parvati still wrinkled her nose at the dirt under his nails.

It was only when she saw Ron, and his rather stupid outfit, that Parvati remembered the trick she had played on her sister. Compared to the pure joy she had felt with her friends just minutes earlier the whole thing now felt rather dirty. But then she was filing down the stairs, after the rest of the group, and there was nothing she could do now.

Padma was standing in the entrance hall, in a lovely turquoise sari that a Parvati from earlier in the week might have bitterly thought was more expensive than her own. Right now, she just felt a little sick at the sight of her sister. Ron stumbled next to her and the resigned sadness in her eyes didn’t feel very funny anymore. Before she could think of what to say, she was dragged away with the rest of the champions’ dates. A rather giddy Hermione must have noticed a grey tinge to her usually warm brown skin, she mouthed a quick ‘Are you ok?’ in her direction. Parvati could only answer with a mute nod.

Then, they were walking in and Parvati had to sit and force down bites of cardboard-like food while she tried to look pretty and not glance at her sister. Lavender kept catching her eye, making stupid faces to her across the hall. Normally it would have cheered her greatly, but she couldn’t look at her without her eyes sliding to Padma.

She managed to force out a few polite remarks to the people next to her. By the end, even Harry, unobservant as he was, was beginning to look at her with concern in his eyes.

Right, pull yourself together Parvati, she tried to remind herself as the meal faded away and she had to get up and dance. You’re here with the most impressive wizard of your generation, even your parents will be proud of this one, so make the most of it. For the record, her parents were suitably impressed. They sent a brief letter including a newspaper clipping, this would later be ripped up when Harry went out of the public favour at the end of the year.

She led Harry in a rather awkward dance, putting on her best smile she asked if he wanted to dance more. She pulled a disappointed face, just for show, but was secretly grateful for a break when he declined. At least she was until she was led straight back to her sister again.

They made for quite a table; Padma was sitting in awkward silence, Ron staring angrily into the distance, Harry forlornly glancing over at Chang while hoping she didn't notice. Parvati couldn’t see herself but knew she was glancing around the room far too much to look happy. This might have been what attracted the pretty Beauxbatons boy to her. Overjoyed at the distraction, she let herself be pulled away.

After two dances, and little sign of stopping, she asked him if he had a friend for her sister. That would make it right she told herself. And maybe it did for a while. It certainly cheered her up, she danced with Lavender and as many pretty boys as she could find until her feet were sore.

When she entered the bathroom a few hours later to hear a girl crying, she wasn’t immediately sure what to do. Parvati was brave and kind but she was much better at fighting than having an emotional conversation with a stranger. She had just decided to sneak back out, to find Lavender, when she recognised the feet under the stall door.

The feet looked very much like her own, the quiet sobs were rather familiar too. Parvati hadn’t seen Padma cry in many years. She got those hurt looks and wouldn’t talk for days, but tears? Parvati always thought she was the overemotional one of the two and never really questioned why that was.

Parvati was stuck then. No matter how much she hated her sister, she couldn’t leave her alone like this. She would have rolled her eyes if the situation wasn’t so serious. She cast a quiet locking charm at the door.

“Padma,” She called softly, as she headed towards the stall, “Is that you?”

“Go away Parvati!” Padma shouted back.

“Come on Pads,” She continued, leaning up against the door. “Tell me what’s wrong?”

“Oh as if you don’t know.” came the cold reply.

“Look, is this about Ron? I’m sorry OK, Harry just asked me if I knew anyone and you sprung to mind, I didn’t mean it badly.” Parvati knew this wasn’t quite true, but what was she supposed to say? ‘Yes. I, Parvati, your sister, decided to give you the worst night of your life for no reason other than I felt like it?

“Oh you know that’s not true!” Padma crashed out of the stall as she said that, practically knocking Parvati over. Had Padma been the sort to wear makeup it would have been running down her face, instead, she just looked blotchy and livid.

“Well-”

“No!” Padma interrupted, “I told you I didn’t want to go to the ball with any boy and you just had to go and find me the most stupid, boyish boy in this entire school!  
make it so I couldn’t refuse! Why did you do it, huh? Just to spite me? Couldn’t you deal with being the social one without making me look like an idiot?”

Parvati was lost for words. She knew her sister had been sad, she didn’t think she was ready for mad.

“You trapped me in this thing, like some sort of snake. No! You're worse than a snake, you're like some sort of… sort of… Ugh!” With that, Padma threw herself down onto the grimy floor and buried her face in her knees.

“Look Pads,” Parvati began, after clearing her throat and sniffing back some tears. “You’re right, I knew what I was doing and I shouldn’t have done it. I don’t even know why I did it, I just thought it would be funny. Not...” She gestured around them, “...this” She finished lamely.

“Why would you think that?” Padma sniffled but didn’t look upwards.

“I don’t know.” Parvati sighed, she sat down opposite Padma with her back against the sinks. “Lavender told me it was horrible but I didn’t believe her. I think I got so caught up in the idea of hating you that I forgot that you’re, you know, you.”

“You hate me?” Padma looked up.

“No!” Parvati said, shocked. She shocked herself a little too. “I mean… I hate the idea of you. You know the perfect sister, so smart and quiet. Next to me the stupid, can’t-even-read-a-sentence, embarrassment.”

“You don’t know how much they’re gonna hate me.” Padma scoffed back.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing, never mind” Padma quickly responded.

“Pads?” Parvati asked. She could see the nervousness building up in her sister’s eyes once again.

“Um ok,” Padma looked down and tried to look as small as possible. “Well remember when I said I didn’t want to go to the ball with any boy? I sort of meant I didn’t want to go to anything, with any boy, ever.” There was a pause after this.

“You’re gay?” Parvati released suddenly.

“Yeah, I guess,” Padma responded.

“Oh.”

“Is that all you have to say?” Padma demanded, her voice was suddenly filled with fear.

“No, sorry it’s just,” Parvati forced out, “it was a bit obvious wasn’t it, ‘I don’t want to go with a boy’ I mean who says that?” Padma let out a little bit of a laugh at this. “Well, if I ever set you up on a shitty date again I’ll pick better. Maybe Bulstrode, that would be a laugh.”

“Oh shut up ‘Varti!” Padma giggled through her tears.

They sat there in silence for a bit. Something big had changed between them that they would never be able to go back from. The air around them felt remarkably heavy and light all at the same time.

“Fuck.” Parvati eventually let out.

“What?” Padma asked.

“What are they gonna say?” It wasn’t really a question as they both knew the answer.

“You can’t tell them,” Padma breathed.

“I would never!” Parvati felt affronted but knew she didn’t really have ground to stand on.

“I mean it. You can’t tell anyone. No one knows and I don’t want anyone to yet. Not even Lavender OK?”

“I won’t,” Parvati felt warm inside, “I promise.”

After a while, Padma got up and washed her face at the sink. She tried to dab all the redness away from her eyes before she finally decided she looked ok to go outside again. As she walked to the door and placed her hand on the doorknob, she turned back for a second.

“Parvati,” she asked, “What are we going to be like tomorrow?”

“I don’t know,” Parvati responded, letting it hang heavy in the air before she continued. “Something new.” And with that Padma nodded and left.

When Parvati finally managed to drag herself up from the ground, the ball had long since finished. She climbed the stairs as quietly as possible and counted herself lucky Snape must have been occupied elsewhere.

“Where have you been?” Lavender asked when she came in, “I haven’t seen you in ages, don’t tell me you were off with some beauxbatons boy and forgot about me?”

“As if I would do that to you!” Parvati cried dramatically as she headed to bed. “But Lav? You were right, it was a horrible trick to play.”

-  
16 Years Old  
-

The war began in earnest at the end of Parvati’s fifth year. She had believed Harry when Cedric died, of course, but Dumbledore's army felt like a game. Padma was mostly preparing for her OWLs, Lavender to chatting with her friends and Parvati used it to let off some steam by cursing something (or someone) into oblivion.

Lavender hadn’t believed Harry at first. She was still dating Seamus and wanted to believe he was right. After a few tight words from Parvati, and a rather messy breakup, she changed her mind. Parvati had been the only eager one to join the DA, she had to drag both her friend and sister along to make them change their minds.

After the events at the ministry, everything got very real. The government was in disarray, finding a new minister without calling for an election. This signified a breakdown in everything across the country. Even if people agreed on which side of the war they were on, they could argue about politics for hours.

And that wasn’t even accounting for the deaths. Parvati spent all summer getting madder and madder, her parents tried to ignore the awful proclamations from the prophet each day.

Sometimes, she would snap at them demanding they say something. Acknowledge how fucked up the world was. Other times she had cried herself raw over her pillow overnight, not having any fight left in her come morning.

Padma’s anxiety levels had gone through the roof, she would barely let Parvati send out an owl without checking everything over. Lavender’s letters brought news of terror, her parents were debating pulling her out of Hogwarts and leaving before it was too late. Parvati’s favourite squib aunt had stopped responding to letters for fear of being found, Parvati would never read another letter from her again.

It was during that summer that Parvati started keeping her hair shorter. She needed it out of her face so she could fight in a pinch. She kept it trimmed into a soft bob, just long enough to pull up into a ponytail when it had to be. Her mother spent a long time bemoaning this to every person who would listen.

Aside from this, Parvati’s family stayed remarkably normal during the war. Her parents went to work each day and returned the same as ever. There was no talk of leaving school, just some bland commentary on her disappointing OWL results. Her parents, in fact, were model citizens of the new world. They followed every law, no matter what moral rules it broke. They would go on to report their muggle-born neighbours to the ministry, looking the other way as they were dragged out screaming.

Parvati wouldn’t know for a long time how to talk about this period. Her parents never became death eaters, as far as she knew they never even really associated with them. They were not murderers and they certainly didn’t participate in any battles. They were just average people, letting the world devolve around them because it wouldn’t affect them.

She would tell people, many years later, a well-practised statement that wormed its way into several of her grandchildren’s school reports. ‘My parents weren’t good people, but they weren't evil either. They let bad things happen and didn’t stop them, which means I will always think of them as bad people.’

-  
18 Years Old  
-

Parvati survived the war, so did Padma. Lavender didn’t.

She should be happy, but she wasn't. To the rest of the world, her entire family had survived. But she had lost someone just as special to her. Lavender had been just as much of a sister to her as Padma, more in some ways. She would mourn her for the rest of her life.

They had spent countless nights up late, giggling and chatting. They had cried together when they were sad. They had told stories and braided each other’s hair. Parvati’s countless visits to Lavender's London apartment had made her feel as connected to the Browns as her own family. Now, that link was gone.

She hadn’t felt this alone in the world since she was a child, dreaming of her Hogwarts letter and to escape her family. Now she was back to square one.

Lavender had died so unlike how she had lived. It had been slow and painful, the colour and life fading out of her as the blood left her body. Parvati had held her hand. At that moment Parvati had prayed for the werewolf's curse to take hold, a cursed life would be better than no life. But no one was listening as Lavender slipped away, leaving Parvati alone.

Yesterday was her funeral. Parvati had sat in the front row and hugged Lavender's younger brother the whole time. Lavender's parents had cried and taken Parvati home with them after. Then came the really hard part.

“We know you were her best friend, Parvati, she talked about you nonstop from the moment you met.” One Mrs Brown said to her.

“We also know you were the one with her when she d- left.” Said the other Mrs Brown holding back tears.

“It will be hard for you, I’m sure, but we want to know what her last few moments were like.”

And so Parvati told them. She stuttered through every word Lavender said, every tear she shed, every spell she cast in the fight. And how it wasn’t enough.

And then Parvati cried. Padma came and apparated with her home, straight to her bedroom. Padma made her tea, she cast silencing charms so their parents wouldn’t hear. Padma let her cry.

Parvati felt love for her other sister at that moment. Mourning one made the other feel so much more important. She told Padma that. For the first time she could remember, she told her sister that she loved her. Maybe just one happy tear slipped out between the sad.

-

“What will you do now?” Hermione asked her gently.

“I don't know honestly. What about you?” Parvati replied. It had been a few months since the final battle. They were sitting together in a muggle cafe, near to Hermione’s house. The two had never been amazingly close at Hogwarts, but they had grown up together and fought beside each other. Hermione had cried alongside her when Lavender died. Not that Parvati wanted to think about that right now.

“I think I’m going to go back and do my NEWTs, join the year below. I know most places are waving the NEWT requirements for jobs, but I don’t like that I missed a whole year of schooling. Besides, it puts off making a real decision on what I want to do.” as Hermione spoke she wrapped her hands around her mug of coffee as if trying to sap the warmth out of it.

“Yeah, Padma did hers back in June so she wouldn’t have to repeat. I don't think NEWTs are for me though.”

“What do you mean?”

“Hermione,” Parvati sighed, “This may be hard for you to understand, but not everyone enjoys exams.”

“I know that!” Hermione paused, “I don’t understand why but, believe me, Ron has told me many times.”

“Anyway, I don’t mean the exams. I mean for life in general. I didn’t have a plan before this happened anyway, let alone now. What good is finishing off my exams when I wouldn’t even know why I was doing it.”

“But it’ll open up so many opportunities for you!” Hermione seemed more confused than angry.

“Opportunities I don't want! Look I just don’t think I’m destined to sit in an office and change the world like you or Padma. I want to do something real, where I can move and control my own life.” It was only when saying this Parvati realised how passionate she was about it. “Look, I don’t know what to do exactly, but I’m not going back to school. I’ll get some simple job, work in a shop or something, so I can save enough to move out. That’s all I’ve ever been sure I want from life.”

“If you’re sure…” Hermione trailed off still sounding uncertain.

And so the very next day Parvati set out to look. She flooed to Diagon Alley (with her hair done up in her best, most professional, bun) and got to work. Fortunately, many places were hiring at the moment. Many workers had been lost in the death eater occupation, businesses were just starting to try to build up to what they were before the war. The street was ripe with ‘help wanted’ signs.

Parvati walked up and down the street at least ten times that morning, listing the places that caught her eye in a little spell-check notebook Padma had given her on her birthday. The list sparkled with the purple ink pen she was using, she smiled thinking of simpler times.

Once shops started to close, and the street started to go quiet, she ambled back to the leaky cauldron. She bought a quick strawberry butterbeer as a treat, before flooing home.

The next morning she sent off 12 copies, made with a hasty Geminio, of her rather sparse CV. If the war had not happened, she might have had some work experience or a reference to include. But she was proud of it anyway, even if it was only written in black ink.

A week later Parvati received an owl detailing a job interview. This moment, like the one years ago when a Hogwarts owl swooped down to her, would be a letter she’d remember forever. The start of her third life.

-

“Hi there, I’m Cassidy Brennan,” said the kind-faced, dirty blonde proprietor of Delicate Diffindos.

“Hi, It’s nice to meet you,” Parvati responded with a smile forced slightly too wide, “I’m Parvati Patil.” This was the first interview she’d ever experienced, she was very nervous. She had tried to read her tea leaves that morning, to see how it would go, but struggled to find any definitive shapes. Parvati loved the concept of divination, it was such a beautiful form of magic, but she had never had much skill at it. That had always been Lavender’s turf.

“Thanks for coming in today, let's go through to the back area so we can talk in peace.” Cassidy continued, Parvati followed her through the front area, where customers and workers buzzed around the space. The back room was cool, lacking any real windows as all Diagon Alley buildings did. That didn’t take away any charm from the room, however. It was small but contained beautiful modern, by wizarding standards anyway, furniture. There were plants dotted around and a corner of the room was clearly devoted to cooking and eating. A couple more doors led out of the room, presumably to offices and supply rooms. “This is our staff room,” Cassidy said, “You’ll be spending lunches and breaks in here if we hire you.”

“It’s very nice,” Parvati quickly said before Cassidy continued.

“Right onto business then, why are you interested in working here?” Parvati’s head rushed with all the possible things she could reply, and yet none of them felt right. I want to move out of my parent’s house, true but not very impressive. I feel very stressed after the war and need a distraction, also true but probably not a good quality in a worker. I have no NEWTs and need to learn how to do something, ugh everything was wrong. But, Parvati bolstered herself, I am a brave Gryffindor and if there is one thing I learnt from Hogwarts it’s 'talk with confidence and people will agree'.

“Well you see, I’ve always had a passion for hairdressing right from when I was a little girl. I used to beg my mother to do my hair for me, I think there's something very nice about having someone do it for you. Later in Hogwarts me and… my… um, my best friend we used to do each other’s hair. That was the first time I ever cut hair.”

“And you want to continue doing that?”

“Yes. I want a job where I can be on my feet, moving around all day, I don’t like sitting still. I also think I would find it very creatively rewarding.” Parvati knew that although she wasn’t talking in her natural voice, she was definitely trying to sound a lot more employable than she was, everything she was saying was the truth. The interview continued like that. Occasionally she would trip up on her words, especially when she was asked about technical terms she didn’t know well. The position was for a hairdressing apprenticeship, she luckily wasn’t expected to know everything. Cassidy seemed nice although very professional.

Parvati tried to do everything she could do to get the job, although she had no idea how she was supposed to do this. Had her seventh year gone as planned, she would have had several lessons and one-on-ones about how to get a job after school finished. Parvati’s parents would have been more helpful had she told them about the job, but she hadn’t. She knew they would never accept her going into a minimum wage job when ‘Perfect Padma’ flew high on her NEWTs and went off to become a ministry unspeakable.

“I think that's all, do you have any questions about the role?” Cassidy finally asked. Parvati had been flying on auto for the last ten minutes, she was suddenly shocked that it was over. She had no questions, something she would have been told was bad if anyone had given her advice, so she thanked Cassidy and left.

In a daze, she headed back towards the leaky cauldron. She was planning to Floo home until she realised her family would ask her where she had been, especially if she came in this shakey. So she continued on through the pub, swerving to avoid the few people that she recognised, and entered muggle London. After summers with Lavender, she considered herself pretty used to the muggle world. Lavender, however, lived in the London suburbs near Kingston and had never had much interest in going into central London. They had spent only a little time in the town going to the shops. Otherwise, Lavender’s mothers had apparated them to exciting places like theme parks or Zoos. Parvati had never spent any time visiting the London tourist destinations. When she headed down, out of the quieter street the Leaky Cauldron was located in, and into London proper, she felt immediately overwhelmed. Her childhood was relatively quiet, wizarding Britain was never that busy even in the summertime.

In her already dazed state, Muggle London made her even more confused. Very soon she considered herself lost. She hadn’t paid much attention to what the road she had left looked like, she didn’t even know its name. She couldn’t very well ask for directions to the leaky cauldron. At least her floor-length summer robes could pass as muggle made, even if they were a bit eccentric.

Parvati knew she could apparate home at any time, so she tried not to feel too panicked by the crush of people. In muggle studies classes they had been told the number of muggles in the world compared to the number of wizards, but she wasn’t sure this had ever really understood the numbers until now. And this was just one city.

So Parvati found herself caught in the flow of people, heading somewhere unknown. In what seemed like no time at all she found herself emerging into a wider open space. It was a massive courtyard, much larger than any she had seen before. There was a tall statue in the centre, reaching high above her head. Children were running around the area and climbing on the giant stone lions that stood in each corner. Muggles looked to be taking photos of everything around them. Everyone around her seemed so happy, nowhere in the wizarding world felt like that at the moment.

Parvati smiled as a pair of girls ran past her, had she ever been that happy and carefree? Although she didn’t know where she was, she could tell it was somewhere important to the muggles. She wished she knew more about them, she had dropped muggle studies after her OWLs as she wanted to focus on the practical subjects. She didn’t think there was any point studying for a written exam when her dyslexia was going to make her fail anyway, no matter how interesting she found it.

Maybe she could move to the Muggle world, once she earned enough money. Were muggle houses expensive? She would have to visit Gringotts to talk about it. She probably had to open a new account anyway, her childhood savings account wouldn’t be very good now she was an adult.

The more she thought of the idea, the more she liked it. Nothing would disappoint her parents more, of course, than their wayward daughter dropping out of school and moving in with muggles. But at the same time, she couldn’t imagine anything honouring Lavenders memory more. Maybe she could live in this very place!

“Excuse me, would you mind telling me where I am?” She asked the next passer-by.

“Tourist?” He asked her as he scanned her up and down. “You from India?”

“Um… Yeah, somewhere like that,” She responded. Her robes probably did look a little like a sari to a muggle.

“This is Trafalgar Square, that's Nelson’s column. Maybe buy a map if you’re lost.” The man said before moving on. He seemed a little grumpy, but at least she now knew. Yes, she wanted this to be her life. She wanted to be able to answer the questions of clueless muggle tourists. She imagined walking to work at Diagon Alley each day, leaving to come home to this muggle world. No one here cared about death or the war. Maybe then, she would be able to move on and feel peaceful again.

Parvati stayed at the square for most of the rest of the day. She had almost forgotten about the interview by the time she decided to apparate home. She remembered it when she did get home, finding her mother waiting for her with a letter in her hand. She had opened the owl post of course, despite the fact it was addressed to Parvati. Her mother told her how disappointed she was, but Parvati couldn’t keep the smile off her face when she realised she must have got the Hairdressing apprenticeship on the spot.

-

On Parvati’s first day at work, she barely felt any nerves at all. She was too excited to get there. Her mother had cried and told her father, he had shouted each time he saw her for the last few days. But nothing could stop her from sending Cassidy her confirmation.

She wore a set of special black robes, which she had bought while visiting Gringotts. She wore her hair half up, figuring customers might like to see how beautiful it was. She flooed in early, eager to start. She arrived into the staff room, with barely a stumble, to find Cassidy waiting for her with a man in his mid-thirties.

“Parvati, excellent,” Cassidy smiled, “This is Raine, he’ll be helping me to train you.” After some greetings and handshakes, Cassidy continued, “Now, we just have to wait for the other apprentice and we’ll be ready to start. We’re lucky to have two of you starting today, it should really help us pick up the slack. Haircuts were a luxury people couldn’t afford until now after all!” She chuckled at that, she had a deep voice, Parvati liked hearing it.

“Oh, there’s two of us, Who’s the other one?” Parvati questioned politely. At that moment, the fireplace flared into life casting green light across the room. Parvati turned around with a smile that quickly fell from her face. “Pansy.” Parvati was a smart girl, she didn’t need to ask why Pansy was here; If there was any girl in their year more interested in how she looked than Parvati was, It was Pansy.

“Parvati,” Pansy said with a tight smile on her face, “It’s nice to see you again,” She didn’t sound hostile, so Parvati forced a smile in response.

“Yes, you two were in the same year at Hogwarts weren’t you?” She waited for their nods before continuing, “Great no need for introductions then, let’s start with a tour.” They awkwardly walked side by side as they were shown the office and storerooms. If Parvati had been less shaken, she would have been fascinated by the rows and rows of products lined up on shelves. There was the professional level Sleakeazy's she never had enough money to buy. There were other lines of brands she’d never even heard of, as well as a few bottled potions clearly made here.

The salon area had five floating styling chairs, with modern frameless talking mirrors in front of each one. They complimented her as she walked past. “We had to buy new ones recently, our old ones were smashed in a death eater raid last year.” The running commentary was interesting and she made sure to laugh and nod in all the right places.

Once the tour was done, it was time to officially open the shop, Parvati was told to shadow Raine for the day while Pansy stuck with Cassidy. She could finally breathe clearly, beginning to enjoy her day with Pansy out of sight. Raine talked through the cut he was doing on a woman with dark brown hair. He told her the hair texture and which spells and tools would work the best with it. She helped to dry the hair at the end, with a warm blowing charm she had used to use back in school. This was the sort of thing Parvati had been excited for.

Soon, however, lunch arrived. She and Pansy were set loose into Diagon for a break.

“Um… I’m just going to go find a cafe or something.” Parvati said as she turned away. She didn’t know what to say to Pansy. She couldn’t find it in herself to be angry and shout, but could hardly be friendly.

“I know a place, shall I take you?” Pansy asked with a sigh. There was none of her usual sarcasm or wit in the words. If anything, Pansy sounded depressed. Then Parvati’s anger flared, what right did she have to be depressed! Parvati’s best friend died, she fought and cried and saw Voldemort die. She was tortured by the Carrows for months, while Pansy stood at their side. As she seethed, she felt her body betray a nod in reply to Pansy. Why did she agree? She should be screaming at Pansy. “Come on then,” Pansy said bluntly and set off, clearly expecting Parvati to follow. She could leave, but what would be the point she’d have to face Pansy back at work in an hour anyway. And so she followed.

The cafe Pansy brought them to only served sandwiches. They sat at a table in silence, Parvati tried not to sound too distracted as she gave her order.

“Look, Parvati,” Pansy began fiddling with her fork and avoided eye contact. “I’ve known you a long time, so I know the look you get when you’re mad. But let me say my piece ok?” She glanced up at Parvati with apprehension in her eyes. Parvati didn’t know how to respond so she just stared, Pansy must have taken that as a sign to continue. “A long time ago we used to be friends, right? I know we won’t ever be again, but I’d appreciate it if we could at least be civil. I didn’t know you were going to be here but I can’t find another job, so I won't give this one up because of you.” This was said with a Pansy-esque sneer. “I need the money and I need something to do, that's that.”

Parvati didn’t know what to say. Her sandwich arrived, the teen waiter in the apron didn’t seem to notice the tense atmosphere at the table. By the time that was sorted, any response Parvati could have given was too awkward.

They ate in hurried silence for a few minutes, before Parvati decided she couldn’t take it anymore. “Why do you need money? Your family is rich.” She actually hadn’t meant the question to sound so hostile, but Pansy didn't seem to mind.

“My parents sunk a lot of money into the losing side of the war, what little they had left was taken in fines. We don’t even have a house anymore, I’m staying with the Malfoys.” Pansy said offhandedly. “Why do you need money? You may never have been as rich as me but our families ran in the same circles.”

“Well, my parents don't exactly like me these days.”

“Did they ever?” Pansy said shortly with a snort. Before Parvati could help it she was laughing. It was the laugh of someone who hadn’t had anything to laugh about in a long time. Pansy was laughing, the exact same way, back at her.

“I’m not sure they ever did.” Parvati finally responded once she’d got her breath back. She paused for a second before continuing. “Look, Pansy, I won’t pretend to forgive the things your side did in the war. But you never hurt me, or anyone else as far as I saw, and we have to be able to move on. I need this job to move away, and I’m sure you need it to so let's not get in each other's way.”

“Agreed. But just so you know, I never thought of the Dark Lord’s army as ‘my side’ as you so eloquently put it. There’s a difference between agreeing with someone's ideological principles and doing what you can to not alienate yourself from your family and the likely victors.”

“When did you get so wise?” Parvati asked in shock.

“Sometime during the seven years that you ignored me.” Pansy rebutted with a sly smirk. “I read a lot of philosophy and ethics books. If the NEWTs of a Slytherin counted for anything I’d probably be off studying that now.”

“You took your NEWTs?” Parvati didn’t know how many times Pansy could shock her in one conversation.

“Yes, of course, under quite extenuating circumstances I might add. I did well. But after hundreds of unanswered applications and failed interviews I realised it doesn’t matter what my grades are. I was lucky to get this one, maybe it’ll even be interesting even if it isn’t my passion.” Parvati suddenly felt very guilty that she got the first job she applied for. Pansy may have been a brat of a child and a bitch of a teen but she deserved a job.

“Ok,” Parvati said, trying to change the subject. “Answer me this, If you are so interested in ethics and philosophy why did you want to turn Harry over to Voldy?” Pansy looked a little startled at the question. “Sorry, you don’t have to answer that.” Parvati tried to backtrack.

“No, I’ll answer.” Pansy snapped, “Your directness is the one thing I never stopped respecting about you.” Parvati guessed that was a compliment but didn’t feel that happy to receive it. “I said it because of the trolley problem.”

“What’s that?” Parvati asked.

“It was a muggle philosophy originally. Some sort of muggle device is going towards a group of five people and there is no way to stop it. But with a simple spell, you can divert it off its path saving the people. When you divert it though you will end up killing one person. Do you cast the spell?”

“And you can’t just cast an impedimenta on the muggle thing?” Parvati asked puzzled.

“You’re taking it too literally, typical Gryffindor.” Pansy sighed, “No you can't. The point is, is it worse to not act and let five people die or to make a decision and kill one person. When I was reading it in the books, it always seemed so simple. Choosing to take no action is still making a choice, so why is it any better than casting the spell? You should save the five people and kill the one.”

“I think you’ve lost me,” Parvati muttered.

“It doesn’t matter. The point is I spent hours thinking about this theory and what the best outcome is. When I was presented with the same problem, but in real life, I was ready. If Potter was given up we all would live. It just so happened that no one else agreed with me.” Pansy looked a little distressed at this, “Obviously it worked out in the long run, but no one had any way of knowing that. We could have all died, Potter included. If I did it all over again, I would probably make the same choice. I really did think I was doing it for the better of all of us.”

“I guess that makes sense...” Parvati trailed off. It was true; if she tried to apply logic to the situation she probably would have come to the same conclusion. The difference between Parvati and Pansy was just that Parvati didn’t think logic could be applied to a situation when human lives were at stake.

Lunch was a lot more enjoyable after that. They didn’t talk much, but the food was good and some of the tension between them was gone. They returned to Delicate Diffindos walking side by side.

-

The company aside, learning at the salon was very interesting. Parvati already knew most of the spells she would need, from the years caring for her hair in Hogwarts. What she didn’t really know was how it would interact on different hair types.

Products were even more complicated. Parvati couldn’t have afforded to buy and use most of the things they had here. On top of that, some people appeared to have magic resistant hair that needed muggle products and tools.

At first, Parvati and Pansy were only allowed to do simple tasks, washing and drying as they were directed. Soon they were moved on to some realistic practice dummies in the storeroom. Their fake hair grew down to their waists each night, so each day they had to be styled. Parvati would slice and wash and dry as directed. Each day her dummy would look beautiful and pristine, the very next all of it would be gone. Cassidy took to taking photos each day, adding them to a file so they could skim through and see their progress. It was great fun.

Nothing beat the moment she was presented with a folded piece of parchment, a month in, detailing the money she’d made. It was transferred directly into her new Gringotts account, which had no link to her parents. She went down there once, just to see it. This was the first time she had ever earnt something for herself. She knew it wasn’t much, but it was the best feeling in the world.

Parvati had spoken to her new goblin account manager about living in the muggle world. She had been told it was uncommon but possible. Gringotts was able to pose as a muggle bank account to transfer money into their banks. She was presented with a cheque book that would work when giving money to muggles, she was free to find an apartment at any time.

Now, Parvati just needed to work out the price of living alone. She was not very skilled at maths, having never taken arithmancy and refusing to do any more tutor work after she began at Hogwarts. She had been certain it would never be of use to her in real life, and perhaps it wouldn’t have been if she wanted to live in the wizarding world. But it turned out she did need to know. Someone else may have asked a friend for a favour or even paid an hour with an advisor. Parvati, however, was determined to be independent and so learnt herself.

She bought muggle newspapers, with a few pounds she had converted, and studied the prices of apartments in London. She calculated how long was left on her apprenticeship at which point she would get a raise. She even bought a very boring book on how to budget money, she went through it step by step. Unfortunately, after all this work, she came to a rather annoying conclusion. She would need a flatmate.

-

The first person she asked was, of course, her sister, but Padma didn’t want to move away from home yet. She claimed it was for ‘Saving money’ but Parvati knew it was anxiety to live alone. It was a pain, but Parvati didn’t argue.

Next, she asked Hermione. When she received the reply owl it was an apology, Hermione would be living with her parents until she achieved her NEWTs. At this point, Parvati realised most 18-year-old witches still lived in the homes they grew up in, or in quarters provided by their apprenticeship masters.

She then tried to move onto older friends. She sent an owl to Cho Chang, who she remembered from the DA. No luck there, or from anyone else she knew. She was sending out letters to old classmates each day, knowing them less and less each time. Her parents were beginning to get angry at the number of letters flying through the house, but that didn’t dissuade Parvati. It just made her even more desperate to find someone.

This was what she was bemoaning to Pansy, on one of their lunchtime trips to the cafe. They didn’t always eat together, sometimes Pansy would leave the salon door without a backwards glance and no one would see her for the next hour. But sometimes they just, mutually, decided to leave together and share a cafe table. They never discussed it, in fact, they didn’t discuss much of anything. They would moan about their lives but rarely comment on the others.

That was what Parvati had thought was happening, as she told Pansy of the countless letters in search of a flatmate. This was why Parvati was particularly surprised when she was interrupted by Pansy’s blunt voice.

“I could be your flatmate,” Pansy said.

“You?” Parvati didn’t mean to sound as shocked as she did. She would wonder, later, if that had been rude.

“Yes me,” Pansy bristled. “Look I know we aren’t friends but surely even a sentimental Gryffindor can see the logic behind this. You want out of your parents’ house, my parents don't even have a house anymore. Living with the Malfoys for the rest of my life and eventually becoming Draco’s token wife is hardly my dream Parvati. I may not be able to reach my career goals anymore but at least I can do this.”

“That makes sense,” Parvati said appeasingly, hoping to get Pansy out of this mood. “But,” Parvati continued, “Why would you want to live among the muggles?”

“Honestly Parvati! I don’t hate the muggles, I read their philosophy works all the time. Besides I could deal with getting away from the wizarding animosity some time.”

“Well ok, but what about the rest of your family? You’re just going to leave them?”

“You’re one to talk about abandoning your family,” Pansy responded with a snort.

“But we see each other at work every day! We’d be spending a lot of time together.” Parvati tried again.

Pansy gave her a look at this. Parvati couldn’t quite tell what it meant, impatience maybe. “If you don’t want to live with me just tell me. But these excuses are ridiculous, especially when I’ve just handed you exactly what you want. But before you say no, would you rather live with me, a known quantity, or some random Hufflepuff you’ve not said two words to.”

Parvati did stop and think. One of the good things about Pansy was she didn’t get impatient when people took a while to speak. Parvati had observed it before with little children coming in for haircuts. And as Parvati thought she realised she did know what she could expect from Pansy, as a flatmate. She would be quiet and respectful until her opinion was asked. She would keep Parvati on track but let her be independent. That was what Parvati had wanted from her family all along.

“Can we start this conversation again?” Parvati spoke with confidence.

“This better not be some sentimental Gryffindor crap,” Pansy sighed.

“Oh it always is, but I’m hoping you can get used to it,” Parvati said this in her most upbeat voice, knowing it would annoy Pansy the most. “Pansy Parkinson, would you like to move in with me?”

“Ugh,” Pansy groaned, “Fine but I get to pick the place.”

-

And so they chose a flat. It was a tiny two-bedroom in a big complex. The furniture was old and grimy, it clearly needed to be replaced. The living spaces would have been too small if it weren't for the wonders of magic. They piled the muggle appliances they didn’t understand into a storage cupboard and replaced them with what few magical items they needed.

A couple of the items they would have to learn to use. The day they moved in Parvati attempted to cook them food, over her old school potions burner. Pansy complained the entire time about how unhygienic it was to mix food and potions equipment, instead, she ate some dry muggle bread out of the bag it came in. The pot had burned, it was only through a clever air filtering charm the electric sensor they were shown on the ceiling didn’t pick it up.

So after that, they learned to use the built-in oven and hob. It was gas-powered, so not too complicated for a witch to understand, but still very different from their life so far.

The culture shock didn’t end there. They ended up having to learn a lot of different muggle terms and concepts to live in that world. They walked to muggle supermarkets, where they had to use converted muggle money and buy muggle food. You wouldn’t expect the food to seem that different, but it did, there were so many brands and it came from all over the world.

Parvati wasn’t struggling anywhere near as bad as Pansy, who had apparently only walked through a muggle area once before in her whole life. Parvati found this astounding. Even though her parents weren’t fond of muggles, they would occasionally take the twins on walks through sleepy muggle towns. They would never interact with the locals, despite how desperately Parvati wanted to, but she had at least learned a few facts by proximity.

Although their rent was astonishingly expensive for the condition of the flat, they were able to get by better than most muggles in their position. They had no travel expenses, both able to apparate. Cleaning products and replacements for broken items were obsolete when you could scourgify and reparo anything troubling you. And perhaps most importantly, they hadn’t yet discovered that muggles had invented a wonderful concept called ‘takeaway’ that would have sucked their pockets dry.

Overall, life in the flat was comfortable. Pansy filled it with books and some surprisingly cute decor. Parvati made sure to always leave a window open for owls while moving the furniture into the latest astronomically predicted optimal position. Pansy didn’t like this much, but could easily be appeased with some of Parvati’s far superior cooking.

Parvati’s room was the horrible mess of colour you get when you buy all of your furniture and clothes and accessories without thinking about how they would go together. She hung a multicoloured bead curtain over the door and turned all her bed sheets bright pink. She lined her shelves with the little muggle tourist souvenirs they sold on every street corner in London. Tiny red buses and snow globes containing Big Ben sat alongside the wizarding decorations she used to keep next to her old school four-poster bed. A framed photo of her and Lavender in her mothers’ apartment, laughing and hugging each other, took pride of place on the wall.

The best thing, Parvati thought, was that her parents weren’t there. For a moment they had been impressed with Parvati moving out so young, but that quickly grew to disappointment and anger when they found out where. And Parvati only told them where she lived in a general sense, she hadn’t told them the address and they had never asked. She had a good laugh imagining her mother climbing up the stairs to the apartment, while ignoring the perfectly functioning elevator, and knocking on the door. There was no possible way for her to explain the lack of floo or private apparition spots.

Parvati could also invite friends over whenever she wanted, Padma had come to see the place very quickly and all her Gryffindor friends followed suit. They hadn’t had a party or anything, they weren’t sure their friends would match up very well. Pansy normally tried to make herself scarce whenever some particularly ‘obnoxious lion-headed idiot’ would come over, although she didn’t mind Padma too much. They had stayed on relatively civil terms through the years, despite everything. Parvati similarly tried to stay out of Pansy’s way. It was a bit awkward, sharing a subtle nod of greeting to Malfoy before she was able to slink into her room.

-  
19 Years Old  
-

They had lived together a few months before Padma happened. Parvati was working at the salon when her sister came in, she had moved on to being able to give the discounted trainee haircuts. Padma was flushed and jittery, clearly looking for Parvati.

“Padma?” Parvati had asked, shocked as her sister had never been here. It felt as if another world were colliding with her work life.

“I’d like a hair cut?” Padma asked shakily.

“Um… sure,” Parvati said, gesturing to a chair. “But Pads, you never cut your hair?” Padma didn’t answer this, instead, she stormed across the room throwing the gown over herself when it wasn’t immediately offered. “Padma what’s wrong?” Parvati asked seriously.

“It happened,” Padma said as if that explained everything. Upon seeing the blank expression on Parvati’s face in the mirror she sighed and continued. “I told them, and they kicked me out. I wasn’t even given a chance to get my stuff.” Parvati finally felt it click in her brain. The secret she had been keeping for her sister all these years was finally out there, it definitely wasn’t for the better.

“Oh Pads, I’m sorry,” Parvati sighed, not really sure what to say, “Want to come home with me?”

“That would be great ‘Varti,” Padma replied, relieved. Parvati was glad to see some of the tension visibly ebbed out of her shoulders. “But first I really would like that haircut?”

“Seriously?” Parvati asked.

“Oh yes.” Padma had a bit of confidence in her voice that Parvati hadn’t heard in years. “I figure if I’m going to be gay, homeless and depressed I may as well look the part and cut all my hair off.”

“All of it?” Parvati laughed.

“Well, a lot of it. Just make me feel like someone new.” And with that, they were off. Parvati had never heard her sister sound so confident. To Parvati’s eyes, Padma had always had a better relationship with their parents. It was only now that Parvati could see how much it had been weighing on her, dampening who Padma was supposed to be.

Parvati spent more time than she probably should have with her sister. Cassidy wouldn’t be mad, but would probably make Parvati list ways she could have been quicker. It was the first time Parvati could remember doing Padma’s hair in all these years. She found the process very rewarding. In the end, she almost didn’t recognise her sister. Not because of the hair but because of the bright smile on her face.

When Parvati’s shift finished, Padma walked with her back to the tiny apartment where Pansy, not working today, sat waiting.

“What happened to your hair?” was the first thing Pansy said as they got through the door, her eyes looked straight past Parvati to her twin. Parvati frowned at being ignored.

“Oh,” Padma replied with a blush, “I thought I’d try something new, don’t you like it?”

“No, it looks great.” Pansy replied quickly, seemingly a little more flustered than normal, “I just liked your old hair too.” The two were very quiet after that, leaving Parvati to break the ice.

“Padma needs to sleep on the couch,” She told Pansy matter of factly, she was careful not to ask permission in case Pansy decided not to give it. Parvati knew Pansy wouldn’t mean it but would likely do it just to wind her up. “She can’t live with our parents anymore,” Parvati said, giving away more than she probably should have. She could see Pansy’s eyes brighten as she realised something interesting had happened.

“Oh?” Pansy questioned innocently as if she wasn’t about to spend the rest of the day digging it out of them.

“I’m gay, they didn’t like it,” Padma said quickly. Parvati glanced at her sister at this. As far as she knew, Padma could count on her fingers the number of people who knew. It was odd how quickly she told Pansy. When Parvati looked back at Pansy, to see her reaction, she was a little surprised to see the expression on her face. It was remarkably similar to the one she got when she finished a chapter of a complex ethics book. Kind of calculating, as if her brain was hard at work but with a hidden joy as if she was loving every second of it.

“Interesting,” Pansy eventually replied.

“Um… Is that it?” Padma replied clearly unsure.

“I prided myself on knowing every gay in the school Patil, I am rather good at it after all,” Pansy said sharply, “But in all that time I never pegged you for a butch.”

Padma let out a rather unladylike snort of laughter that Parvati had never heard before. Instead of staying and watching any longer, she went to find some sheets for the sofa. Parvati wasn’t stupid, she could tell what was happening here and she decided she wanted no part in it.

After a week, she went back to her parents’ house for the first time and collected Padma’s things. After another week all of those things, including Padma herself, had relocated into Pansy’s room. Permanently.

-  
25 Years Old  
-

They lived in the flat for just over 6 years. With a few well-placed silencing and cleaning charms they looked like the perfect tenants to their, normally rude, landlord. The flat made a great home for them for many years, but at this point, Parvati was offered a promotion. Cassidy's business had been growing slowly and she had decided to open a second branch in Hogsmeade; apparently, Parvati was the only one she could trust to manage it.

Parvati had been shocked, of course. Yes, she was a decent hairdresser. She was also good at talking to people, both customers and staff alike. But she honestly never thought she would go beyond where she was now.

She had felt guilty when she came home that night. Realizing she would have to break the news to Pansy, who had worked just as hard as her through the years. Didn't she deserve a promotion too?

"Hi guys," She said as she came through the door. Both girls were sitting on the sofa watching a game show on muggle TV. Padma had worked out how to get it working and ever since they had spent time sitting in front of it most days. Pansy pretended she couldn’t stand the thing but probably watched the most out of all of them.

"Hey," Pansy drawled, not really paying attention. "It was the Greeks, not the Romans! Ugh, why is everyone on this show so annoying," She continued. Padma, who was clearly a lot more invested in the book she was reading than the show, just hummed in response. They weren’t a very romantic couple, preferring to bicker between themselves than proclaim their love. Parvati could almost forget they were dating sometimes, even after so long, but she would often be reminded when she caught them making out in the kitchen.

"Uh, I have some news," Parvati continued shifting her feet. That seemed to get their attention, she suddenly had two very curious pairs of eyes on her. Padma looked genuinely curious while Pansy was calculating.

"You're pregnant!" Pansy cried, in a tone that could have either been sarcastic or not, depending on what you were looking for.

"No!" Parvati quickly stepped in before they could dig any further into that topic. "No, it's not that..." She trailed off. It was uncharacteristic of her to be this nervous but she couldn’t stand the idea of upsetting the two people most close to her. As much as she wanted it she had never felt as secure in her relationships with them as she had with Lavender.

"Aren't you supposed to be the brave twin?" Pansy sneered.

"Yeah, show me that Gryffindor spirit you're always boasting of!" Padma laughed from her place on the couch.

"Ok, ok, I just don't want you to get mad," Parvati started again, "I got offered a promotion, I'm going to be managing a new salon in Hogsmeade."

"Why would we be mad at that? That's great 'Varti," Padma asked with a look of honest confusion on her face. Her hair had grown long again now. It framed her face, a perfectly styled cut that you could only get by living with Parvati.

"Isn't it obvious," Pansy snorted leaning back into her seat. She looked disappointed, not mad, probably she had been expecting something much more dramatic. "She thinks I'm going to be jealous. When will you learn you're the jealous one in this house Parvati."

"Hey-" She began.

"Besides, I have other plans." Pansy continued. "Back when we first found this place I looked into muggle culture. It turns out, muggles actually pay to be educated after they finish school. Can you imagine that? Instead of being paid for an apprenticeship, they go to these massive schools where they buy a 'degree', the whole thing is rather barbaric." Parvati forced herself to roll her eyes at Pansy despite the fact she tended to agree. "But alas, as the magical world has decided to forsake me, I have decided to pay for a degree of my own."

"Really?" Parvati asked. 

"You don't need to sound so surprised," Pansy responded delicately. "I've learnt a lot about the muggles and earnt enough money in the last few years to support myself. It should be fun. I can finally learn philosophy."

"Wow, Pansy, that's great!" and it was great. As much as Pansy was good at her job, and threw herself into any challenge that came her way, Parvati knew she would never be completely happy as a hairdresser. Pansy was an academic, just like Padma, and there was only so much reading books in her free time could do for her.

"She starts in September," an eager Padma boasted, Parvati wondered how long she had been made to keep quiet about it. Padma was an excellent secret keeper but she was always rather unwilling. "At Cambridge, apparently that's a good thing!"

They celebrated that night by going to the cheap Chinese restaurant around the corner. It was one of the first muggle restaurants they had ever visited. Between the three of them they had since discovered places far nicer, but they still liked this place best. Parvati bought them all bottled water which she sneakily turned into white wine while the servers weren’t looking.  
Their lives may not have been how they imagined them as children, but they couldn't deny they were happy.

Parvati packed up her room a month later and moved into the apartment above the new Hogsmeade shop. She missed the muggle world keenly but knew that era of her life was over. Pansy and Padma left soon after, they said it didn't feel the same anymore. They made sure to make regular visits back to her neighbourhood no matter how much time passed.

The new flat was disturbingly quiet compared to before. The enchanted windows blocked out all sound when shut, but even when open Parvati missed the sounds of London. She missed being able to sit on the couch and bicker with someone every time she got home and the possessions she had didn't fill up the empty space.

She cried the first time a pair of Hogwarts girls came in, debating what styles they should get over a magazine.

Lavender's Picture was displayed above the floo.

-  
26 Years Old  
-

Parvati started dating Dean Thomas when they were 26 years old. They ran into each other entirely by accident while standing in the queue for lunch one day. After a quick laugh about how much they had grown up, they shared the only free table in the busy cafe.

It was common to see old school friends in Hogsmeade. The town was just small enough that you were bound to run into anyone who visited. Parvati would normally make some friendly small talk before continuing on her way. She was glad she didn't today.

Dean now worked for the Daily Prophet, he drew the political comics they liked to feature on page 5. He had grown very good at creating caricatures, rarely failing to get them published, but he didn't feel particularly proud of his work.

"It was never what I planned on doing," Dean told her, "They aren't very creative and barely earn me any money. But it's a job I guess, and I get to travel and do other stuff in my free time."

He told her he spent a lot of his time writing a comic book about an extremely committed wandmaker. She travelled the world collecting special materials but normally got into scrapes with the local wildlife and people. "I started it after the war, it was based off Ollivander at first, it was more a distraction than anything else. I got to research new magical things you see, it helped me recapture how I felt about magic when I found out about it at eleven. Before everything got ruined, see? But I really like the idea, I'd love to publish them if I ever get the chance."

Parvati listened raptly to the stories, she had always wished she could draw. She had a phase as age ten where she longed to be an artist, it was a pity she was no good at it. She still always found herself naturally drawn to pictures in books and newspapers. It was probably something about not being able to read the words, she pondered to Dean out loud.

After the accidental meeting, he started sending her owls. Instead of the usual letters, however, he filled the parchment sheets with tiny moving pictures. They were meaningless things; warm-up doodles and little things he couldn't get out of his head. She would send back things she thought were funny and the occasional bad drawing she tried herself. Occasionally, they sent each other serious letters about how they were feeling or what had happened in the last week. It was lucky Dean had very neat handwriting. They made Parvati happy and she kept each one in a drawer in her bedroom.

One day, a large letter arrived with a brightly coloured square of very thin parchment pasted on the front. It read 'I couldn't get this out of my mind'. Parvati, curiosity peaked, opened it eagerly. Inside there was a sketchbook, Its deceptively blank black cover screamed muggle. When she flicked it open to the first page she found a drawing of her. It wasn't very accurate, clearly from memory, the drawing looked more like her face at 15 than now. The next page showed a better one, and the next.

The drawings ranged in quality, some rough sketches crossed out in pencil. Some had gorgeous shading and colours, but it was clear Dean never thought they were perfect. Each had a little scribbled date underneath but he never bothered to sign them.

After she had flipped through at least 30 pages the images stopped, but there was a note written on the final page in Dean's neat script.

"Dear Parvati,  
I've been trying to draw you ever since I saw you in Hogsmeade. I wanted to tell you how beautiful you looked with a drawing to match. It turns out I can't do you justice. No matter how hard I try, something just doesn't quite match up to the real you.  
My letters from you have been the highlights of my days recently, even if they're just about stupid stuff it always makes me smile. Back in school, you were always so intimidating. You were the prettiest girl there, of course, but I knew you would fight me and win if I ever were to upset you. It's probably a bit embarrassing to say but I had a crush on you when we were about 14, but that was silly compared to how I feel now. Now I know you're funny and loyal and smart, as well as still being the prettiest girl around who could destroy me in a fight.  
I've spent a long time debating this but I think I finally have the guts to tell you how I feel. I hope you don't find the drawings too weird, and I completely understand if you never want to speak to me again but I couldn't go any longer without telling you.  
Dean"

Parvati's heart was beating so fast by the end of the note she didn't know what to do. Her hands were shaking enough that she had to put the book down, for fear of ripping the pages.

After a couple of minutes pause, she suddenly bent down and found the envelope from the letter on the floor. Parvati wasn't sure why, but Dean always wrote the return address in the corner, maybe it was a muggle thing.

She concentrated on the writing hard as she spun in place. She barely had time to blink before she ended up on the doorstep of a small house. She knocked before she knew what she was doing.

"Hi," She said, breathlessly, when the door opened showing a slightly dishevelled Dean. He was still in pyjamas, and his hair had clearly been squashed flat on one side by the pillow. "Did you mean this?" She said gesturing with the empty envelope that was still in her hand.

"The note," Dean's brain didn't seem to be functioning as well as normal at this time in the morning. "Um, yes I did. Are you mad?" He finally managed to get out.

"No," Parvati laughed, a little more high pitched than normal. "No, it was perfect."

"Oh," Dean let out, a slightly goofy smile rising to his face, "Want to come in for a coffee then?" He asked to which she smiled and nodded.

They were married within two years of that day. Seamus stood proudly beside Dean as best man, with a smile on his face.

Parvati did not choose a maid of honour, she thought about her sister but knew Padma had no interest in talking about dresses and flower arrangements any more than she had to. Next, she thought of Pansy but Parvati didn't think she could deal with her specific brand of scowling sarcasm at every choice she made. She would wish she had picked one of them, or even branched out and chosen another friend. The hole beside her would be better filled with a poor substitute than left as a gaping Lavender shaped wound.

She couldn't let herself be sad on her wedding day. Her parents were in the crowd shooting disapproving glances at everything from the groom to the colour scheme. She plastered her best fake smile, perfected in years under her parents' tyranny. It wasn't that she didn't want to get married, she was very happy to finally take this step, but she would never describe it as the happiest day of her life.

-  
32 Years Old  
-

Parvati was over the moon when she had her first child. She had never really grown up thinking of children, she was still a child herself when the war made that decision seem so distant and unrealistic that it could never happen. But suddenly it was real and she didn't think she could look back.

She was very volatile while she was pregnant, not that Dean would ever tell her that. He spent his days trying to give her everything she ever needed. Pansy was the one who sat her down, telling her that screaming at Padma over the floo, before immediately breaking down in tears, might not be rational behaviour.

But she got through it, and every complaint and sadness felt worth it when she saw her daughter at the end.

She initially thought about naming her baby Lavender, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. She didn’t want to ever think of someone else with that name, Lavender had taken a corner of her brain that she would never let be invaded by anyone else. Besides, the baby didn't feel like a Lavender. In the end, they named her Georgianna. They took her home to their newly purchased Hogsmeade home and doted on her constantly.

Parvati’s mother visited a few times, bringing some unwelcome advice alongside her. Soon Georgie's grandparents just became names at the bottom of a birthday card, sometimes containing the occasional galleon. Parvati didn't miss her parents' presence in Georgie's life. There were so many people around to help them. Pansy and Padma visited often, they were each determined to become the babies favourite aunt.

Dean's family also played a huge role. They had easily accepted Parvati as one of their own and were so proud to see his baby. His parents and siblings brought muggle toys that probably interested Parvati more than the baby. Parvati was not a Christian, and as such never named any godparents for her daughter. She knew there was no shortage of people queueing up to care for Georgie.

Parvati visited the graves of her school friends and told them she tried not to feel guilty. She was almost double the age Lavender had been when she died, it hurt to think about. She met with Lavender’s younger brother, who had recently married, and exchanged stories every year.

They entered a state of routine, and Parvati was happy. It wasn’t until the twins came along a few years later and the relatively peaceful life they had fallen into was shattered. Parvati knew twins tended to run in families, her and Padma weren't the first in their family after all. Wizarding health care didn’t include anything as practical as the ‘ultrasound’ Dean always talked about, it was a complete shock to them all when her second son popped out.

Zack and Kian were well-behaved children, as long as someone was looking their way. They didn't remind her of her and Padma as children, they would never have been so close. The twins were even worse when they were with Padma and Pansy's daughter who was adopted around the same time.

Parvati knew, as her mother had been keen on reminding her, that if she was stricter with her kids they might not misbehave so much. But she could never bring herself to shout at them. One day she had levelled her wand at Kian after catching him bringing in a bucket full of worms for 'a potions 'speriment'. She had the words on her lips for a light stinging charm used by many parents, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She had tears in her eyes when she told Dean what had happened later.

And so Parvati raised her children how she wished she could have been raised. It was loud and emotional and everyone knew just a little bit too much about everyone else. When the kids grew old enough they walked to town from Hogwarts to visit their parents regularly. Surprising many, none of Dean and Parvati’s children ended up in Gryffindor. Pansy would endlessly boast that she had managed to corrupt the children early enough. Parvati got the last laugh when her sister’s daughter, the youngest of the cousins, went to Gryffindor instead.

Parvati grew up, where many didn’t. She cried and she smiled and she lived. She would grow old and witness the birth of her great-grandchildren. She would outlive so much hardship and have so many stories. In the end, the happiness would outweigh the sad, and she would leave the world having caused so much more good than bad. She was happy.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! I don't have a beta reader so please feel free to point out any mistakes. Also if anyone speaks Marathi and the names I used when Parvati talks to her parents are wrong please let me know, they're just from online. Please chat to me about anything else in the comments as well!


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